Oil burner



May 19,1925. 1,538,083

OIL BURNER Filed Nov. 5. 1923 INVENTOR. IA. B2" 8, r15. 5 BY 7 Let r ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED" STATES y. 1,538,083 ENT OFFICE.

PAT

TEOILS A. BIGG S, F SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

or: BURNER.

Application fled. 1mm; 3, 1m. Serial m5. 872,878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. Brees, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Sioux Cit in the county of Woodbury and State 0 Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil Burn-' ers, of which the following is a specificais vaporized in a heate pervious mass of.

refractory material the production of certain novel improvements, appurtenances and features of construction whereby the fuel is thoroughly atomized and admixed with the proper proportion ofoxygen to form a com.- pletely combustible gas. A further object of the invention is the production in an oilburner having. an oil va or emitting enclosure of an improved 'adpistable air flue, which directs a current of air downwardly into the center of the column ofvapor, which insures an intimate mixture of the air and vapor and which is closure.

readily adjustable'toward andfrom the en- The invention. has for another object the production of an oil burner which emits a ollow column of oil vapor,-downwardly into the center of which is directed a current.

of air which intimately admixes with the. surrounding volume of oil vapor, forming a mixture which is completely combustible, and which makes a maximum amount of heat from a minimum quantity of fuel.

The-invention further contemplates an oil burner having an air flue which directs the current of air dbwnwardly toward a column of oil vapor, and WhlCh 'iS so constructed that the current of'air admixed with the oil vapor may be readily shifted laterally with res set to the column of oil vapor to neutra 'ze the tendency of other air. currents or drafts to interfere with the intimate and uniform admixin of the air and oilvapor, which uniform mixture must'be had to produce a flame of uniform intensity and regu larity. v

- Stillfurther the invention has for an ob ject the production of an improved burner of this general type which 1s simple and a mass through which the oi comparatively inexpensive in manufacture and installation, yet is durable and eflicient and produces a maximum amount of heat from a minimum quantity of fueL These and other objectsand advanta s I successfully attain in the embodiment ereinafter described, defined in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanyin drawing which forms a part of this ap hcationand in which like characters of rearence indicate corresponding parts through the severalviews, of which,--

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a burner con structed in accordance'with my invention,

parts being cut away and shownin section.

Fig. '2 is a horizontal section of the same taken on the'offset line 2-2 of Fig.',1,-and Fig. 3 is a plan of the modified form of the air flue head.

signed to be installed within a stove orjurnace, and comprises an enclosure or container which may be a; conical bowl, 4, having a vertical u per'rim, 5. In installing the device, the owl, 4, 1s preferabl supported by asheet metal plate, 6, plac upon the grates or other support of the furnace, stove or other heater (not shown). N The center of the'bottom of the bowl, 4, is rovided with a depending nipple, 7-, w "ch rojects below the plate, 6, and on which The burner illustrated is particularly deis threaded a T-pipe fitting, 8, the lateral and lower openings of which are considerably reduced, and into the lateral thereof is threaded an oil feed pipe, 9, which, it will be understood, communicates with a suitable source of oil supply. The lower end of the T, 8, may be rther reduced bya bushing, 10, into which is threaded an oil overflow pipe, 11, and into the 11 per end of the bushing, 10, is threaded t e upper "end portion, 12, of the overflow pipe, said pipe, 12, being extended through yet spaced cm the nipple, 7, and on the exterior of the pipe, 12. In the bottom of the bowl, 4, is inserted a screen, 13, and the bowl, 4, is then filled to substantially the lower edge of the rim, 5, with a mass of gravel, ashes, earth, steel wool, asbestos or other suitable refractory material, 14, adapted to provide from the pipe,

'9, permeates and which, when heated, will vaporize the oil. I have found from my many experiments, however, that washed avel or gravel clear from sand affords the.

v est results. Obviously, the overflow pipe,

' with the bowl.

' the mass, 14, will 12, should extend to or slightly above the surfaceof the mass, 14. The breadth of the burner flameis limited by a flatv ring, 15, which is removably supported above an referably rests upon the mass, 14, said ring heing. preferably provided on its lnuer pe ri hery with a flan e, 16. In manufacture of the device these at rings are provided in various sizes whereby the capacity of the burner ma be altered without altering the size of the owl, 4.

It will now be clear that the 011 is fed upwardly through the mass of material, 14, it being heated by the heat from the burner as it pames therethrough and as the 011 permeates the extremely hot surface of'the mass it is thoroughly vaporized and rises in a column of vapor from the bowl and when roperly admixed with air, as'presentl escribed, rovides a blue and white uni orm flame a ove and a distance from the bowl. a Y

I provide an air flue consistin of a vert1 'cal section, 17, which projects ownwardly throu h the plate, 6, and is rotatably supported atone side of'the bowl as by segmental arms, 18, formed integrally with the rim, 5, of the bowl, partially enc rcling the flue section, ,7, and supporting a suitable boss, 19, on the fiue. Above the flue section, 17, is a return bendflue section, 20, one end portion of which telescopes and is supported by the upper end portion of the section, 17'. The eduction end, 21, of the section, 20, is positioned a distance" above and directed downwardly in axial alignment edge, 22, which rests upon a lateral rojection, 23, on the section, 17, whereby t e section, 20, is supported and the mouth of the admixing of the air and oil vapor'rising from the bowl, I have found it desirable to so restrict the column of vapor that-itrisesj only from the perimeter of the bowl. For this purpose I place in the upper portion of the'inass, 14, an imperforate plate, as a sheet metal disk, 24, having ing to admit the overflow pipe, 12. The said disk, 24, is spaced from the walls of the bowl, 4, and is preferably embedded in the mass, 14, just below the surface thereof. By virtue of this construction i-t-willbe clear that the oil seepgingupwardly through e converted into gas which is emitted upwardly from the bowl and around the disk, 24, in what may be called a hollow column, as will be understood from, the upwardly-directed arrows.

The other endportion of a the section, 20, is formed with a helical end a central open- It will be understood, however, that although the disk, 24, increases the efficiency of t The evice is so'constructed and designed, and its arts so related that the draft from the dra t orsmoke pipe of the usual heate burner and reduces somewhat the d consum' tion of fuel, its presence is arbitrary.

wardly into the flue, 17, which current of air is directed downwardly a distaaice'from the center of the hollow column of the oil vapor rising from the bowl and intimately mixed with the'surrounding volume of gas. Obviously, the distance of the eduction end. of the flue section, 21, from the'top 0f the the mouth of the flue section, 21, and into bowl is of great importance, but when a properly constructed and installed, the burner makes a blue and white flame and the bowl.

The air from the draft asst-(15a 5 51; the central portion of the surface; of: the j mass, Or that portion thereof above the P The embedded plate, 24, i J f copper, or other good heat-conducting material, and therefore, through capillary at-f traction, is' always hot, and the oil coming in contact with the bottom thereof is' 'con-'- verted into gas which is emitted at the sides of the plate. In other words, the 'di sk,"24 ,x serves not only to cause the vapor to rise in 1' a hollow column, but also to provide in the I burners, although suitable for solid fuel. Therefore, in such instances I provide means for slightly forcing and assisting the 'draft toward the usual draftor smoke flue, which consists of an electric fan, 25, which forces tion, 17. .Under the ordinary and usual conditions, however, it is not necessary to use the elements, 25 and 26.

As previously. stated, the eduction end of There are occasionally heater installations {air into a suitable duct,'26, communicating "with the lower end of, yet which does not interfere with free rotation of, the flue secthe air flue .is normally aligned coaxia'lly with the bowl, 4, whereby with normal draft conditions the current ofxair from the flue uniformly admixes with the surrounding volume ofjgas and thus produces a uniform flame around the burner; There are occasions, however, where an air current within the heater or the draft front its smoke pipe tends to so divert either the rising volume ofgas or the air current from the flue,'or both, as to result in unevenness of combustion. That is, the flame would'be greater at one side of the burner than the other. tendency in some instances may be success fully neutralized. byswinging the flue see- This evil I tion, 20, slightly in one direction or the other. In order to prevent this evil under all conditions of draft, I provide means, readily adjustable, to direct the air current eccentrically to the column of gas and in the proper phase to produce a uniform mixture of the air and gas, and thereby cause uniform combustion around the burner. The said means preferably comprises a head plate, 27, on the eduction end of the flue section, 20, having an eccentric opening, 28, the said plate being rotatably supported on the flue section by means of projecting lateral studs, 29, on the flue section which project into a channel rim, 30, on the plate. The top of the channel is provided with radial notches, 31, which, when brought into registration with the studs, 29, permit mountlng and demounting of the plate upon and form the flue.

When the burner is installed in heaters which do not have shifting air currents, the flue may be provided with a removable head, as presented in Fig. 3, which may be identical in every respect with that above described with the exception that it has a concentric opening, 32. In manufacture these heads are provided with the opening, 32, thereof of various sizes to restrict the air current to the proper volume. v

Although I have illustrated and hereinafter described the preferred embodiment of m invention, I would not be understood as being limited to such specific construction, for various alterations may be made in the details of construction and arrangements of parts herein disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, to-wit, 1. An oil burner embodying a container, a pervious mass of refractory material therein, an oil feeding passage communicating with the bottom of the container, an oil overflow pipe projecting through said passage and extending substantially to the top of said mass, and a plate adjacent the top of the mass, and spaced from the container walls.

2. An oil burner, embodying an open top container, a pervious mass of refractory material therein, an oil feeding passage communicating with the bottom of the container, and an imperforate plate adjacent the top of the mass and spaced from the walls of the on the flue having an opening eccentric to the opening of the air flue.

5. In an oil burner, a container, and an air flue including a rotatable vertical section at the side of the container, a return-bend section having one end portion telescoping the vertical section and formed with a helical end, the other end being directed toward the enclosure, and a projection on the vertical section engaging the helical end of the other section, whereby rotation of the vertical section raises and lowers the return-bend section.

6. In an oil burner, an open top container, a pervious mass of refractory material therein, means for feeding oil upwardly therethrough, an imperforate plate adjacent the top of the mass and spaced from the container walls, and a flue above the container having an end directed downwardly toward the container.

7. In an oil burner, a container, and an air flue including a rotatable vertical section at the side 01. the container, a return-bend section having one end portion telescoping the vertical section and the other end directed toward the enclosure, the telescoping THOMAS "A. BIGGS 

